EP3964686B1 - Mobile working machine for foundations and method for aligning a tool of such a working machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile working machine for deep foundations and a method for aligning a tool of such a working machine.

Deep foundations describe a construction method that does not transfer the loads directly into the subsoil beneath the structure (as with shallow foundations), but rather uses additional, often vertical, elements to transfer them deeper into the earth and then carry them away. Deep foundations are required when the layers near the surface are not strong enough to bear the load.

In order to drive the appropriate piles into the ground, there are specially designed civil engineering machines, such as piling and drilling equipment. These mobile work machines cover a wide range of applications, ranging from operations with vibrators and hydraulic hammers to drilling methods with Kelly equipment, double drill heads, endless augers and full displacement tools.

Regardless of the range of applications of the mobile work machine described above, it is always of great importance to use the drilling tool, e.g. to insert a drill pipe, a continuous auger, a sheet pile or the like into the ground at a predetermined angle of inclination.

The tool, e.g. a drill pipe, is normally screwed into the ground vertically or at a predefined incline. With conventional mobile work machines, the driver is dependent on an assistant who measures the drill pipe angle with a spirit level and tells the driver in which direction and how far he should move or operate the work machine in order to correct the position of the tool.

What is complicated about this is that the correction can only be carried out step by step. It is only possible to correct in one direction: left/right (e.g. by turning the upper carriage when the undercarriage is stationary) or forwards/backwards (e.g. by moving the leader relative to the upper carriage). However, a correction in one direction is usually not enough; corrections must also be made in the second direction.

However, this correction of the second direction influences the first direction that has already been corrected once, so that the different correction steps must be repeated in an iterative manner in order to achieve a satisfactory angle of inclination of the tool. The number of correction steps that are necessary until the tool matches the desired target position from the actual position depends on factors such as the experience of the driver, the assistant and the initial position of the tool.

The DE 33 34 573 A1 , the US$5,383,524 and the US2008/0177450 all show a device having the features of the preamble of claim 1.

It is an object of the present invention to improve the cumbersome method described above for aligning the tool, for example a drill pipe or the like, in order to speed up the processes when inserting such a tool into the ground and to make them more reliable.

This is achieved with a mobile work machine which has all the features of independent claim 1 or with a method according to claim 13.

According to the invention, a mobile work machine for deep foundations, in particular by rotary drilling, ramming, vibrating, flushing and/or pressing, is provided, which comprises an undercarriage with a chassis, an upper carriage that can be rotated relative to the undercarriage, and a leader that is arranged on the upper carriage and is designed to move a tool to be inserted into a ground vertically or at an angle, wherein a distance of the leader relative to the upper carriage is adjustable. The work machine is characterized in that it comprises an inclination measuring device for determining an inclination of the tool to be inserted relative to the ground and a control unit that is designed to rotate the upper carriage and/or vary the distance of the leader to the upper carriage depending on the inclination of the tool determined by the inclination measuring device in order to obtain a preset inclination angle of the tool. The inclination measuring device can be permanently installed on the machine or can also be, for example, an external spirit level, the measurement result of which can be transmitted to the control system of the machine.

It is therefore no longer necessary to correct the first direction again if it has been incorrectly corrected by correcting the second direction, but both directions can be corrected in a single step. According to the state of the art, it is necessary to repeat the correction steps in the different directions until a satisfactory result has been achieved for the two angles of inclination.

The invention measures the angle of inclination of the tool to be inserted into the ground, so that the control unit rotates the upper carriage and/or changes the leader position based on the angle of inclination detected. Other movements are also conceivable, such as moving the lower carriage. or swiveling the leader. The advantage is that the control unit can rotate the upper carriage and at the same time change the leader position without having to correct an alignment that has already been made.

This option is particularly advantageous because rotating the upper carriage to compensate for a lateral inclination of the tool always means moving the tool in relation to a fixed coordinate system defined by the undercarriage. In other words, the rotating movement of the upper carriage, with the leader kinematics remaining unchanged, not only corrects the position sideways, but also in a forward or backward direction perpendicular to this. This is inevitably the result of the circular movement when rotating the upper carriage.

The control unit can now also be designed to carry out the distance of the leader and the rotational movement of the upper carriage in such a way that a resulting combined movement leads to an exact displacement. By adjusting the leader, both the movement portion of the circular movement that is directed towards or away from the upper carriage and any errors that may exist in this direction are compensated.

According to the invention, the mobile work machine can be a piling and/or drilling device. The piling and/or drilling device can preferably be used with a vibrator or hydraulic hammer and can work in a drilling process with Kelly equipment, double drill head, continuous auger and/or full displacement tool.

Preferably, the control unit is designed to automatically adjust the inclination of the tool to the preset inclination angle.

In this way, an operator of the working machine can initiate the desired alignment process and the tool is aligned without any further action by an assistant or the operator himself. The control unit is able to To rotate the upper carriage and to vary the distance of the leader to the upper carriage or to carry out other movements.

It is clear to the expert that turning the upper carriage involves turning the machine by controlling a chassis of the mobile work machine accordingly, as this also results in a rotation of the upper carriage (which is fixed to the undercarriage). The forward and backward movement of the mobile work machine can be viewed as a variation of the distance of the leader from the upper carriage, as this also changes the position of the leader relative to the ground.

As a rule, however, the upper carriage is rotated and the distance between the leader and the upper carriage is changed, since the contact area of the mobile work machine does not have to be changed.

According to an optional development of the invention, it can be provided that the control unit is designed to adapt the inclination of the tool to the preset angle of inclination during a penetration process of the tool into the ground.

This means that the inclination can be continuously monitored while the tool is being inserted, which leads to a very precise alignment of the tool in the ground.

Preferably, the inclination measuring device can comprise an electronic spirit level or an inclination sensor.

According to a modification of the invention, it can be provided that the inclination measuring device is arranged on the machine side, in particular on a coupling region of the machine for fastening the tool to be driven into the ground, or on the tool side, in particular on the tool itself.

For example, the inclination measuring device can be attached to a pressure pipe or a cardan joint of a drilling drive.

However, the invention also provides for the inclination measuring device to be attached directly to the tool to be driven.

Data transmission between the inclination measuring device and the control unit can be wired or wireless. Manual input of the measurement result is also conceivable.

According to an optional modification of the present invention, it is provided that the inclination measuring device is designed to determine the inclination angle of the tool in different directions, which preferably relate to angular ranges of the tool that are not linearly dependent on one another.

By determining the inclination angles in different directions using the inclination measuring device, the control unit can control the mobile work machine so that the inclination angles for both measured directions are aligned in one step. This leads to a reduction in the alignment time of the tool.

Since the movements that can be generated by the mobile work machine and that act on the tool, for example the rotation of the upper carriage or the forward or backward movement of the broker in relation to the upper carriage, are known, it is advisable to determine the angle of inclination of the tool in corresponding directions. For the possible movements of the mobile work machine mentioned above, it would be advantageous if a first angle of inclination of the tool determined by the inclination measuring device lies in a first plane that is perpendicular to the ground and has the direction vector of the forward or backward movement of the broker in relation to the upper carriage. The second angle of inclination should then lie in a plane that is perpendicular to the first plane, since this is where the rotational movement of the upper carriage takes effect.

Optionally, according to the invention, a position detection unit can also be provided which is designed to detect a distance of the inclination measuring device from the ground and/or a rotation angle of the inclination measuring device relative to the mobile work machine, in particular relative to the superstructure.

By detecting the position of the inclination measuring device arranged either on the machine side or on the tool side, the position of the tool can be determined and the path to be covered can be calculated in advance.

Preferably, the control unit is designed to rotate the upper carriage and/or vary the distance of the leader to the upper carriage by using the ground clearance and/or angle of rotation of the inclination measuring device detected by the position detection unit in order to obtain a preset angle of inclination of the tool.

According to an optional development of the invention, it can be provided that a machine position determination system, in particular a GPS system, is also provided for determining the absolute position of the work machine.

It is clear to the expert that systems other than GPS, such as Glonass, Galileo or Beidou, can also be used to implement the machine positioning system.

By determining the absolute position of the working machine, the machine geometry and the known set parameters of the machine, e.g. the distance of the leader kinematics from the upper carriage, the angle of rotation of the upper carriage to the undercarriage, the inclination measuring device and/or a Position detection unit can be used to determine the absolute position of the tool.

The present invention can also be used to improve the documentation of the construction of a building. The inclination sensor can be used to record additional data (e.g. inclination, absolute coordinates) about the tool (e.g. concrete pile) and automatically add it to the production protocol.

For this purpose, the relevant data is transmitted from a control unit to a computer, where it is then processed and/or stored for archiving and logging.

Accordingly, according to the invention, it can be provided that the control unit is further designed to determine an absolute position of the tool to be driven into the ground by relying on the absolute position of the working machine and preferably the machine geometry.

In this case, it can also be provided that, in order to determine the absolute position of the tool to be driven into the ground, the control unit is further designed to use the ground distance and/or angle of rotation of the inclination measuring device detected by the position detection unit.

According to an optional modification of the invention, it can be provided that the control unit is designed to automatically arrange the tool at a predetermined ground position. If the absolute position of the tool is known, the tool can also be automatically arranged at a predetermined ground position by the mobile work machine. It can thus be provided that the operator only has to roughly position the work machine so that the target ground position to be reached can be reached by automatically rotating the upper carriage and varying the leader distance from the upper carriage caused by the control unit.

1. a) Erfassen einer Neigung des einzubringenden Werkzeugs gegenüber dem Boden, und
2. b) Drehen des Oberwagens und/oder Variieren des Abstands des Mäklers zum Oberwagen in Abhängigkeit der durch die Neigungsmessvorrichtung bestimmten Neigung des Werkzeugs, um einen voreingestellten Neigungswinkel des Werkzeugs zu erhalten.

The invention also relates to a method for aligning a tool of a mobile work machine for deep foundations according to one of the previously discussed aspects and comprises the steps:

1. a) detecting an inclination of the tool to be inserted relative to the ground, and
2. b) Rotating the upper carriage and/or varying the distance of the leader to the upper carriage depending on the inclination of the tool determined by the inclination measuring device in order to obtain a preset inclination angle of the tool.

According to the method, it can also be provided that after the inclination of the tool to be inserted has been detected, the upper carriage is rotated and at the same time the distance of the leader to the upper carriage is varied. This can be done automatically by corresponding control commands from the control unit, which are generated on the basis of the detected inclination of the tool in order to adapt the actual inclination of the tool to a desired target inclination. In this case, it is not necessary for the operator to intervene in the control process of the mobile work machine. Only the start of the automatic alignment of the tool can be initiated by the operator.

According to a further development of the method, it can be provided that the inclination of the tool to be inserted relative to the ground is determined in two mutually different directions of the tool, which preferably relate to angular ranges of the tool that are linearly independent of one another.

This ensures that the desired inclination of the tool is achieved with a combined movement of the mobile work machine, i.e. a combination of turning the upper carriage and varying the leader distance from the upper carriage.

Fig. 1a-d:

eine Darstellung der mobilen Maschine mit einem nicht ausgerichteten Werkzeug, vorliegend ein Bohrrohr, in unterschiedlichen Ansichten,

Fig. 2a-c:

eine schematische Darstellung der Ausrichtung des Werkzeugs von der Istposition bis zur Sollposition mit einzelnen Schritten, die der Bediener ausführen muss,

Fig. 3a-c:

eine schematische Darstellung eines nicht ausgerichteten Werkzeugs mit möglichen Werten, die für die Ausrichtung des Bohrrohres herangezogen werden können, und

Fig. 4:

ein Ablaufdiagramm für die Ausrichtung des Bohrwerkzeuges.

Further features, advantages and details of the invention will become apparent from the following figures.

Fig. 1a-d:

a representation of the mobile machine with a non-aligned tool, in this case a drill pipe, in different views,

Fig. 2a-c:

a schematic representation of the alignment of the tool from the actual position to the target position with individual steps that the operator must perform,

Fig. 3a-c:

a schematic representation of an unaligned tool with possible values that can be used for the alignment of the drill pipe, and

Fig.4:

a flow chart for the alignment of the drilling tool.

In the figures explained in more detail below, a drill pipe is used as the drilling tool 6 in order to be able to better describe the function of the invention using this example. It is clear to the person skilled in the art that the invention can also be used in other special foundation engineering processes in which a certain inclination position (e.g. inclined bored pile wall) of the drilling tool 6 is desired or a vertical position that is as precise as possible (e.g. when producing sheet pile walls) is required.

Fig. 1a shows a side view of a mobile working machine 1. The basic structure of the working machine 1 with the undercarriage 2 and the upper carriage 3, from which the leader 4 extends, can be seen. To align the drilling pipe 6, the driver can move the leader 4 forwards and backwards in relation to the upper carriage 3, which is shown in the figure with the two arrows A. To correct the lateral alignment, the upper carriage 3 can be swivelled to the left and right around the axis of rotation, as shown in Fig. 1c indicated by arrow B. The driver can also move the chassis 2 to Alignment of the drill pipe 6, whereby the position of the chassis 2 is adapted to the environment of the construction site and is not always parallel or perpendicular to the superstructure 3.

One can see an inclination angle a which the drill pipe 6 assumes in the side view to the vertical V.

In Fig. 1b a front view of the mobile work machine is shown. Here, too, one can see an angle of inclination b that the drill pipe 6 assumes in the front view to the vertical V.

Fig. 1c is a plan view of the mobile work machine, where the arrow B shows the rotation of the upper carriage 3 or the rotation of the entire work machine by operating the chassis. It can also be seen that the drill pipe is not aligned vertically to the ground, since the projection of the top of the drill pipe 6 is not flush with the bottom of the drill pipe 6 resting on the ground.

Fig. 1d shows an oblique view of the mobile work machine from the front, where one can also see the undesirable angle of inclination of the drill pipe compared to the vertical V.

The Figs. 2a and 2b show enlarged partial views of the Figs. 1a and 1b . In the Fig. 1c an alignment process is shown schematically, in which the solid circle shows the actual position of the drill pipe 6 on the ground and the dashed circle shows the target position of the drill pipe. The crosses each represent the center of the pipe as it approaches the target position.

In a first step S1, the inclination is measured at a point P1 and the drill pipe 6 is moved forward with the help of the leader 4 or the adjustable leader kinematics, which is shown by the arrow near S1. Traditionally, it was now necessary for the newly set angle of the drill pipe 6 to be checked by an assistant. Before step S2, the The inclination of the drill pipe 6 is measured at another point P2 by the assistant worker. The upper carriage 3 is then swivelled to the left. The rotational movement of the upper carriage 3 adjusts an angle already set in step S1. In order to correct this, the leader 4 is operated again in step S3. As can be seen in the Fig. 2c he can know, the actual position still does not exactly match the target position after three work steps. The number of start-up attempts depends on the experience of the driver, the assistant worker and the communication between the two.

In Fig. 3a-c it can be seen how the two angles a and b are measured with respect to the vertical axis for the alignment of the pressure pipe with the help of the inclination sensor. To produce a vertical concrete pile 6 according to the invention, both angles a, b must be equal to zero. If this is not the case, a possible implementation of the invention can provide for the angle of rotation c and the distance of the inclination sensor d from the ground to be determined (cf. Fig. 3b ).

The angle of rotation c describes an angle of the inclination measuring device 7 relative to the upper carriage 3 of the mobile work machine.

If these variables c, d are known, the computing unit can calculate the required travel distance and bring the pressure pipe into the desired position.

To produce an inclined concrete pile, the geographical position of the inclination sensor must be determined. The position of the inclination sensor relative to the leader 4 is known from the angle of rotation c. The position of the leader 4 and the machine 1 itself can be determined by a machine positioning system 8, e.g. two GPS antennas that can be located on the upper carriage. With the help of the GPS coordinates, a computing unit of the mobile work machine can determine the absolute position of the pressure pipe.

Fig.4 shows a flow chart for the alignment of the drilling tool 6. The angles a and b in relation to the vertical axis V are required for the alignment of the drill pipe 6. The two values a, b can be determined using an inclination sensor 7. The measured values a, b are then transmitted, for example, by radio or cable to the control unit and/or a computing unit and compared with the preset target values. If the recorded actual values do not match the desired target values, the angle of rotation c is measured depending on the arrangement of the inclination sensor 7 and also forwarded to the control or computing unit. In the next step, the travel path can be determined by the control or computing unit. The start-up then takes place automatically, and the driver can start the process, for example, by pressing a button. The machine 1 is able to use the leader kinematics and the slewing gear of the upper carriage at the same time, so that the distance of the leader 4 from the upper carriage can be adjusted at the same time as the upper carriage 3 is rotated.

This process can be carried out not only when the tool 6 has not yet been inserted into the ground, but also when the tool is still partially penetrating. This means that the two angles a and b can also be monitored during screwing in, which means that an automatic correction can be made quickly if necessary.

Claims (15)

1. Mobile working machine (1) for deep foundation, in particular by rotary drilling, ramming, vibrating, jetting and/or pressing, comprising:

   an undercarriage (2) with a chassis,

   a superstructure (3) which can be rotated relative to the undercarriage (2), and

   a leader (4) which is arranged on the superstructure (3) and is configured to move a tool (6) to be introduced into a ground (5) vertically or inclinedly, wherein

   a distance of the leader (4) with respect to the superstructure (3) can be adjusted,

   characterized by

   an inclination measuring device (7) for determining an inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) to be introduced relative to the ground (5), and

   a control unit which is configured to rotate the superstructure (3) depending on the inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) determined by the inclination measuring device (7) and/or to vary the distance of the leader (4) from the superstructure (3) by moving the leader (4) forwards or backwards relative to the superstructure (3) in order to obtain a preset angle of inclination of the tool (6) placed onto or introduced into the ground.
2. Working machine (1) according to the preceding claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to automatically adapt the inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) to the preset inclination angle.
3. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is configured to adapt the inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) to the preset inclination angle during a penetration process of the tool (6) into the ground (5).
4. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inclination measuring device (7) comprises an electronic spirit level or an inclination sensor.
5. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inclination measuring device (7) is arranged on the machine side, in particular on a coupling area of the machine for fastening the tool (6) to be driven into the ground (5), or on the tool side, in particular on the tool (6) itself.
6. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inclination measuring device (7) is configured to determine the angle of inclination of the tool (6) in two mutually different directions of the tool (6), which preferably concern angle ranges of the tool (6) that are not linearly dependent on each other.
7. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a position detection unit which is configured to detect a distance of the inclination measuring device (7) from the ground (5) and/or a rotation angle of the inclination measuring device (7) with respect to the mobile working machine (1), in particular with respect to the superstructure (3).
8. Working machine (1) according to claim 7, wherein the control unit is configured to rotate the superstructure (3) and/or to vary the distance of the leader (4) from the superstructure (3), by referring to the ground clearance and/or angle of rotation of the inclination measuring device (7) detected by the position detection unit, in order to obtain a preset angle of inclination of the tool (6).
9. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a machine position determination system (8), in particular a GPS system, for determining the absolute position of the working machine (1).
10. Working machine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine an absolute position of the tool (6) to be driven into the ground (5) by referring to the absolute position of the working machine (1) and preferably the machine geometry.
11. Working machine (1) according to claim 10, further developed with the features of claim 7, wherein for determining the absolute position of the tool (6) to be driven into the ground (5), the control unit is further configured to refer to the ground clearance and/or rotation angle of the inclination measuring device (7) detected by the position detection unit.
12. Working machine (1) according to claim 11, wherein the control unit is configured to automatically arrange the tool (6) at a predetermined ground position.
13. Method for aligning a tool (6) of a mobile working machine (1) for deep foundation according to one of the preceding claims, comprising the steps:

    detecting an inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) to be introduced relative to the ground (5), and

    rotating the superstructure (3) and/or varying the distance of the leader (4) to the superstructure (3) by moving the leader (4) forwards or backwards relative to the superstructure (3), depending on the inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) determined by the inclination measuring device (7), in order to obtain a preset angle of inclination of the tool (6) placed onto or introduced into the ground.
14. Method according to claim 13, wherein after detecting the inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) to be introduced, the superstructure (3) is rotated and at the same time the distance between the leader (4) and the superstructure (3) is varied.
15. Method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the inclination (a, b) of the tool (6) to be introduced relative to the ground (5) is determined at two mutually different positions of the tool (6), which preferably relate to angle ranges of the tool (6) which are linearly independent from one another.

Images